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All Rise...

Judge Daryl Loomis sells quality corpses at a huge markup.

The Charge

The worst is over, the best is just beginning.

Opening Statement

In anticipation of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Django Unchained, the cut rate
Timeless Media Group has begun to release single-disc double features to cash in
on the fact that, finally, everyday movie fans will have heard of the character.
Luckily, both of the entries in Django! Double Feature: Django Kills
Silently/Django's Cut Price Corpses are appearing on DVD for the first time
and, luckily, both look pretty good. Not so luckily, they're both very poor
entries in the Spaghetti Western cannon.

Facts of the Case

Django Kills Silently: Hired by a man called Sanders, Django (George
Eastman, Keoma) comes to a small town to help
protect him from El Santo (Mimmo Maggio, Fire over Rome), the most feared
bandit in the area. When he arrives to find that Sanders has already been
killed, he takes to the dusty trail to kill El Santo and, maybe more important,
find the gold that the bandit stole from the dead man.

Django's Cut Price Corpses: Django (Jeff Cameron, Pray to God and
Dig Your Grave) goes on the hunt for the gang that kidnapped his fiancee
only to find that the bandits, in addition to the snatching, have robbed a bank
and hid somewhere in a remote cave. Luckily, he finds help in an agent who has
been hired by the bank to recover the money, and another bandit, Pickwick (John
Desmont), who's looking for revenge for the group's theft of his special saddle.
Together, they're in a good position to find the bandits, but it's unclear who
will wind up with the money.

The Evidence

Don't fool yourself into thinking that the two films in this collection have
anything to do with Sergio Corbucci's classic Django, which was one of the best Italian
westerns ever produced. The character name was used for dozens of entries that
vary in quality as much as they possibly could, with a few approaching the
original and most ranging from bland to terrible. Sadly, both films verge toward
the bottom end of that spectrum, though one is decidedly better than the
other.

Django Kills Silently is the better of the two, though that's damning
with faint praise. The plot is the most basic of Spaghetti Western stories, with
the lone killer coming into town and manipulating rival groups into working with
him and killing each other. It's not a bad way to go, but when you're working
with the sad talent involved here, there aren't a lot of ways to make it
work.

George Eastman, the giant of Italian exploitation (he stands 6'9" tall
and walks liked a golem), does his best, I suppose, but that's not terribly
impressive when it comes down to it. Director Massimo Pupillo (Bloody Pit of Horror, under the
pseudonym Max Hunter) puts in a workmanlike effort, but to no avail as, while
the movie isn't the worst I've seen in the genre, it's tough to remember what
actually happened in it seconds after completion.

It's way better than Django's Cut Price Corpses, though. Despite the
hilarious title and a pretty decent score by Vasili Kojucharov (SS Experiment
Love Camp), there is nothing worthwhile in this film at all. Jeff Cameron is
plainly awful as the title character, but his isn't even close to the worst of
the performances. Director Luigi Batzella (Nude for Satan, another title favorite)
does nothing here worth noting, and gives the film a terrible cheapness and some
of the worst pacing one could possibly imagine. I'm not sure it's the worst
Spaghetti Western I've ever seen, but it's pretty close and the less said about
it, the better.

Timeless Media Group, a division of Shout! Factory, actually does a pretty
good job with these dogs of films. Given the relatively unknown nature of the
films and the seven dollar price tag, I was expecting some awful looking VHS
ports, but no; both films look quite nice on disc. The anamorphic transfers are
sharp and clean, with only a bit of dirt and damage to the prints. The colors on
both are a little bit washed out, and Django's Cut Price Corpses has a
definite flat look to it, but I've seen plenty of Italian western discs that
look far worse. The sound is nothing to write home about, but isn't that bad,
either. Both are Dolby mono tracks with minimal noise and clear dialog, for
whatever its worth to understand what these actors are saying. Extras on both
are limited to the original trailers and poster galleries, but it's better than
nothing.

Closing Statement

While Django Kills Silently has a bit of merit, both films in this set
are for die hard Spaghetti Western fans only. If you're new to the Django brand
and only want to see where Tarantino might have pulled his inspiration, watch
Corbucci's original and leave these to the hardcores and the masochists.